Tiafoe Gets Down & Dirty To Upset Foki In Estoril

Frances Tiafoe staged a dramatic final-set comeback to stun in-form Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to reach the semi-finals of the Millennium Estoril Open Friday.

The fifth-seeded American completed unfinished business from the second set, when he rallied from 2-5 to 5-all, only to see the recent Monte-Carlo finalist clinch the set. In the decider, the World No. 29 also found himself in a hole at 2-5 but after once again fighting back to 5-all, he this time pushed on to claim victory 7-6(5). 5-7, 7-5 in two hours, 59 minutes after taking the final five games of the match.

“Be stronger than your biggest excuse,” Tiafoe wrote on the TV camera after the comeback.

A two-time Estoril semi-finalist, Davidovich Fokina converted just four of 17 break point chances during the match, while Tiafoe went four of eight. The 24-year-old Tiafoe made his only clay-court final in 2018 in Estoril (l. to Sousa).

In Saturday’s semi-final Tiafoe will play fellow American Sebastian Korda, who enjoyed a crushing 6-2, 6-2 win over Canadian top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has won just four of his past 10 matches.

Korda, who avenged a 2021 Acapulco loss to the current World No. 10, was dominant on return, winning a commanding 50 per cent of first-serve returns and 55 per cent of second-serve returns. World No. 37 Korda improved to 13-7 on the year and 3-5 lifetime against Top 10 opponents. On Saturday he will look for his first win in three meetings with Tiafoe.

Defending champion Albert Ramos-Vinolas is two wins from retaining his crown after winning the battle of the Spanish left-handers against Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2 to reach the last four at the clay-court ATP 250. Ramos-Vinolas now leads the pair’s ATP Head2Head series 6-5 and has won eight consecutive sets in their rivalry.

“I think it’s always difficult to play against a player that you know a lot. We’ve played a lot of times and it was a difficult match,” Ramos-Vinolas said in his on-court interview. “I think I played very serious from the beginning until the end and I’m really happy because I beat a really good opponent.”

The 34-year-old has won eight straight matches in Estoril, with two of those victories coming against Verdasco. Ramos-Vinolas needed three sets to triumph in his first two matches this week, but the result was never in doubt against his countryman.

One year after defeating Verdaco 6-3, 6-3 at the Portuguese event, the four-time ATP Tour titlist saved the only break point he faced and won 53 per cent of his first-serve return points to control the match. Ramos-Vinolas will next play 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Sebastian Baez.

Argentine Baez is eyeing his second final of the season after rallying to defeat Richard Gasquet 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in one hour, 55 minutes, with the French veteran paying the price for putting just 46 per cent of first serves into play.

Baez, who converted five of the six break points he earned, reached the Santiago final in February and is now 13-11 on the season.

“All the matches this week have been difficult and today was no different,” Baez said. “I expect another great battle tomorrow.”